Folding knives have been popular for centuries because of their relative safety and convenience. They have found use in an extremely wide range of applications, and are especially popular among sportsmen and individuals who work outdoors. In recent years, pocket clips attached to such knives have become popular as they allow a user to clip the knife to a pocket panel rather than placing the knife at the bottom of the pocket, which may improve comfort of the user while carrying the knife, reduce bulkiness in the pocket, and hold the knife more securely against accidental loss.
Representative examples of folding knives with pocket clips may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,665, issued Sep. 7, 1982 to Glesser, and D488,045, issued Apr. 6, 2004 to Onion; and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/701,119, filed Jan. 31, 2007, in the names of the present inventors.